Re: shortest day


"The Ghost In The Machine" <ewill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:heir35-etk.ln1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
: In sci.physics, Androcles
: <Engineer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
: wrote
: on Thu, 20 Dec 2007 19:19:43 GMT
: <jfzaj.80777$cJ3.9527@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
: >
: > "Uncle Al" <UncleAl0@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
: > news:476ABE06.3F8D07A6@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
: >: Igor wrote:
: >: >
: >: > On Dec 19, 11:48 pm, aark...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
: >: > > Hi all,
: >: > >
: >: > > I recently read in a book that december 22 is the shortest day in
a
: >: > > year, to what extent this is true..???
: >: > >
: >: > > 1) is there any scientific basis for this claim ?
: >: >
: >: > No day is any shorter than any other. They're all 24 hours long.
: >:
: >: Daylight duration is shortest at the solstices, twice/year. One is
: >: ever amazed that Yahweh and his three religions are astoundingly
: >: incapable of assembling a decent calendar.
: >:
: >: Russia's October Revolution was in November, Israel's calendar has
: >: whole leap months, and the Muslim calendar is beneath contempt.
:
: Gregorian: adjusted solar calendar
: Russian: unadjusted solar calendar
: Israel: intercalated lunar
: Muslim: was intercalated lunar, now pure lunar
:
: >:
: >
: > Look out window.
: > See big white ball in sky.
: > When big white ball has gone, note time.
: > Keep looking out window.
: > When big white ball reappears, note time.
: > Repeat daily.
:
: And how does one note the time without a timepiece?

water clock... candle clock... In this case a sundial would
be the most appropriate.

I doubt Henri Wilson would agree 22 December was the shortest
day, he'd probably say it was the longest, just to be his usual
cantankerous self. Except where he lives he'd be right. I'm
sure Paul Andersen would, though, his days are shorter than
mine, and so are Eric Gisse's.



The Romans
: in particular didn't know how to make wristwatches or even
: grandfather clocks.

Really? How about that! Of course grandfather clocks don't
work too well on Roman galleys, they had to resort to ringing bells.
Out in the Old Wild West the Americans would reset the church
clock each day to the gun that fired from the nearby fort. The
sergeant-at-arms used to fire the gun at precisely midday by the
church clock, so everyone knew it was extremely accurate.

The Brits knew how to make sundials 3,500 years ago.
Here's a nice big one:
http://www.arthistory.sbc.edu/sacredplaces/images/stonehenge.jpg
As you can see, the time of day the photograph was taken is between
10:00 am and noon. Well... I can. Perhaps you can't. At midday
the shadows will point North.

This sketch might help.
http://web.mit.edu/mna/Public/stonehenge_416.gif


: They might have known about clepsydras, which the Egyptians
: invented circa 1400 BC, although Babylon might have had one even
: earlier.

The pyramid builders of Egypt knew how to make beer, too; those
Romans weren't too bright, were they? The Parisians and Madridians
are just like those Italians, wine drinkers the lot of them. Even the
Berliners are beer drinkers, and the Copenhageners. Skol!
I wonder if the shadow of a pyramid could be used to tell time... hmm...

But anyway, happy solstice and a merry new perihelion to you and yours
on these holy days.

On the first day of solstice my true love sent to me...
A chicken in a bare tree...

Of course what I really wanted was roast beef.





: >
: > Baron Victor von Frankenstein's personal assistant thinks there are no
: > nights.
: >



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: shortest day
    ... :>: incapable of assembling a decent calendar. ... candle clock... ... The shortest day depends on location. ... The Wild Wild West was far beyond the Romans -- you're comparing ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: shortest day
    ... :> No day is any shorter than any other. ... incapable of assembling a decent calendar. ... When big white ball has gone, ... note time. ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: shortest day
    ... :> No day is any shorter than any other. ... incapable of assembling a decent calendar. ... When big white ball has gone, ... note time. ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Calendars tasks and resources
    ... The might well be people working around the clock during an outage but does an individual person - Catfish Hunter, for example - work around the clock without any time off for sleep or meals? ... The 24 hour calendar says that once they start that job, the two Cats aren't relieved by anyone else for any reason and they don't go home until the job is done. ... up a resource for "boiler makers working 6-10's, ...
    (microsoft.public.project)
  • Re: TIP #173: Internationalisation and Refactoring of the clock Command
    ... > with most of the subcommands implemented in Tcl. ... > SPECIFICATION: CLOCK ADD, CLOCK SUBTRACT ... > These two commands perform arithmetic on dates and times. ... > on the hybrid Julian/Gregorian calendar. ...
    (comp.lang.tcl)